American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO) Practice Exam 2025 – The Complete All-in-One Guide to Exam Success

The term for double vision is “diplopia.” This condition occurs when a person sees two images of a single object. Diplopia can result from various underlying causes, such as issues with the extraocular muscles, cranial nerves, or problems within the visual processing pathways of the brain.

The other terms refer to different eye conditions. Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes, commonly known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed, which can cause or be associated with diplopia. Amblyopia, often referred to as "lazy eye," is decreased vision in one eye due to abnormal visual development, and it does not specifically pertain to double vision. Astigmatism is a refractive error caused by an irregular shape of the cornea or lens, leading to blurred vision but not double vision. Recognizing these distinctions is crucial for understanding various visual symptoms and conditions in ophthalmology.